Lawmaker to donate contribution from group caught in gambling probe

Friday

Mar 15, 2013 at 12:01 AMMar 15, 2013 at 4:42 PM

One of Cleveland County’s state representatives was among a group of political leaders who received a total of more than $1 million in campaign contributions from a veterans charity accused of setting up illegal gambling rooms.

Matthew Tessnear / mtessnear@shelbystar.com

One of Cleveland County’s state representatives was among a group of political leaders who received a total of more than $1 million in campaign contributions from a veterans charity accused of setting up illegal gambling rooms.

Rep. Tim Moore (R), who represents the county in NC House District 111, and his campaign received a $4,000 check in October 2012 from Chase Burns – one of the figures in the alleged Internet gambling scheme – according to NC Board of Elections records.

Burns owns Oklahoma-based International Internet Technologies and was arrested this week after accusations of making $290 million from the supply of illegal gambling software in Florida.

Moore confirmed to The Star that his campaign, Friends of Tim Moore, received the money from Burns.

Some of North Carolina’s officials who received money – including NC Gov. Pat McCrory, who received $8,000 from Burns – have announced they will donate contributions to legitimate charities.

“I do plan on donating the ($4,000) to some local charities here in Cleveland County,” Moore told The Star. “I have not decided which ones yet. I probably will split it up into smaller amounts to a number of charities.”

The Star also checked campaign finance reports for NC House Rep. Kelly Hastings (R), who represents Cleveland and Gaston counties in District 110, and NC Sen. Warren Daniel (R), who represents Cleveland and Burke counties in District 46. Their records did not reflect any contributions from Burns, IIT or Allied Veterans of the World.

The people involved with the scheme claimed proceeds from the games would benefit the Allied Veterans of the World. That organization operated nearly 50 Internet parlors in Florida with computerized slot machine games and gave about $6 million to veterans out of nearly $300 million in profits.

The operations were shut down this week and nearly 60 people arrested. Florida’s lieutenant governor, who did consulting work for Allied Veterans, resigned this week after being questioned by investigators.

Investigators said much of the money went to charity leaders, who spent much of it on boats, beachfront condos and vehicles such as Maseratis, Ferraris and Porsches.

Nearly $1.1 million went into Florida and more than $150,000 went into North Carolina campaign accounts from 2009-12. Both Republicans and Democrats received money.

Moore said he believes he received a contribution because he’s served as rules committee chairman.

“This contribution came in based on a notice we sent out of a fundraiser in Raleigh, designed for the political action committees,” he said. “Apparently (Burns) had a lobbying firm here that was following that for him and would send in contributions for him. The way he represented himself, it appeared to be a reputable business. It didn’t set off any bells and whistles with anyone.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Matthew Tessnear at 704-669-3331, at mtessnear@shelbystar.com or on Twitter @MatthewTessnear.